Can someone tell me what this is. First thought it was a fern, but the leaves are only once pinnate. Found in wooded area near Chehalis, WA on DNR managed forestland.
Maybe a member of the Polystichum genus, a Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum) for instance? Like this: Polystichum munitum
I don't think it is either male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas) or lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina) but looks to me more like Polystichum braunii than Polystichum munitum.
Really? Polystichum braunii should be essentially bipinnate, unlike the leaf on the initial photo, where the leaf is only (single) pinnate. Are we talking about the leaf in focus, or those blurry leaves on the bacground?
I'll be darned. I never would have guessed Polystichum. P. braunii is not on the Lewis County plant list. The leaves seem to more closely match P. lonchitis...? See: wtu048853, Polystichum lonchitis © 2015 Cindy Luksus wtu004829, Polystichum lonchitis © 2003 Ben Legler Thank you!
My photo is of a fern I bought several years ago as Polystichum braunii. Would you say it is bipinnate? I assumed all fern fronds in the first photo were of the same plant but maybe not.
I would call yours bipinnate, as does Missouri Botanial Garden: Polystichum braunii - Plant Finder. The ones in the back are bi-pinnate. Stephen made a point of saying the one in question is single pinnate, so what he is showing is the whole frond, not just a closeup of a leaflet, and the photos he thought look similar, of Polystichum lonchitis, are single pinnate.
Might be a P. lonchitis. Here this species is so rare, that only 4 places are known, where it was ever found. But things may be different in your country and especially in the Lewis County. The plant seems young. Ferns may have rather variable leaf forms depending on age and conditions (especially lighting and moisture) . Some more closeups of P. munitum: Common Sword Fern, Western Sword Fern: Polystichum munitum (Synonyms: Aspidium munitum, Polystichum munitum var. munitum)
No need do doubt, it's just a juvenile fernlet of Polystichum munitum, but not of P. lonchitis (lowest pinnae quite short, rather deltoid, short leaf stipe). For sure youngsters are hard to separate, the other option was close related, very similar P. imbricans.
Note: when I posted "young sword fern" above I was talking about P. munitum. I have seen many just like the one shown.
